US has not, so far, finalized to go for pre-emptive strike on Iraq nevertheless the magnetism to use US doctrine as a road towards emerging war threats can already be seen by other hawks. The Finance Minister of India Mr. Jaswant Singh, in a recent statement in Washington said, “Pre-emption is the right of any nation to prevent injury to itselfé.deterring an enemy from attacking you is inherent in Article 51 of the UN Charter“.
The statement of Mr. Singh provides no justification for US pre-emption doctrine as the threats of war being thrust upon by US not by Iraq, similarly, the Article 51 of UN Charter clearly states the criteria of legitimacy of action for self-defense which in Iraq’s case US could not yet produce any inadequate evidence that Iraq has planned to attack on US. Mr. Singh’s comments does not produce any sense to back the US doctrine on attacking Iraq but these clearly reflect the future intentions of Indian leadership to cash US pre-emption strike in establishing attack its enemy no.1 – Pakistan. On the other hand, responsively, the Pakistani President, General Pervez Musharraf in an interview to The Sunday Times warned India against emulating the American doctrine of pre-emptive action. He said, “The doctrine did not apply to India and Pakistan but if India ever thinks it applies, it is sadly mistaken and it must never undertake this adventure“. President Musharraf rejected the US doctrine for India and Pakistan é which is very obvious in the present (US-Iraq) conflict, however, as he always asserts, he conveyed his message of counter attack if India attacks. In either case, the US doctrine will provide these two atomic power rivals the reasons for entering into dangerous war conflicts.
To obtain the consensus from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said that the doctrine of pre-emptive use of force on Iraq is inadequate for the self-defense for US and it will only be limited to Iraq. Firstly, United States, perhaps, is the only country who has recorded the majority of adventures of threats and attacks in the world, from Hiroshima, Nagasaki to Vietnam, Cuba, Haiti, Iraq to Afghanistan. Secondly, one may believe on Mr. Powell’s affirmations about US doctrine to be limited against Iraq only nevertheless White House can not provide any guarantee about the other custodians of dangerous weapons that they will not use US doctrine on Iraq as historical references in setting the future doctrines against other nations.
No wonder, what prompted Pakistan to suddenly announce to open its chemical factories to international monitors for inspection. No wonder despite the ongoing brutal aggression of Israeli forces with the backdoor backing of White House, why Arab nations are choosing ignorance and still remain on US side in US-Iraq conflict. No wonder, if Russia, China and France are compelled to make a deal to be with US. No wonder, why Nelson Mandela recently said that US is a threat of world peace and no wonder when his distress compelled him to say, during his current visit to Indonesia, “When the (UN) secretaries-general were white, we never had the question of any country ignoring the United Nations but now that we have got the black secretary general Kofi Annan, certain countries that believe in white supremacy are ignoring the United Nations”. No wonder, when the German Minister of Justice succinctly compared Bush to Hitler during Schroeder’s election campaign. No wonder when the empty-handed individuals opt to use their bodies as human bombs for the freedom of the rest, they are labeled as terrorists but when the occupant of world’s largest military arsenal (US) opt to attack another country with all its military might obtains the backing of other powers vigorously, the act becomes a pre-emption doctrine proclaiming for the future peace. The use of terror as an instrument of politics by other means has raised it to the level of war. The initiative in such war intrinsically rests with the terrorists, since they are able to pick the time and place of attack which then, more often than not, can only be dealt with after the event.
The totalitarianism and unilateralism using the supremacy of military might by the only super power of the world has made the world upside down é today, any wrong doing can be justified as right and any right doing as wrong. The Security Council of United Nation is being forced to approve what the world’s only superpower wants. The Hippocratic and despotism approach of US either by military threats or by economical and loans insensitive compelling other countries to remain aside with US. The targeted mission of Bush administration of controlling the globe by power is drifting the world into division between depressors and oppressors. In this situation, the US doctrine on Iraq will provide the license to those antagonists who wishfully seek the decrees over weakened neighbors.
The writer is a Sydney-based freelance journalist and a political analyst.
